Police opened fire on a rampaging Hindu mob as they attacked Muslim businesses in western India today, injuring six people.

Seven Muslims were stabbed to death and scores of businesses destroyed amid fears the sectarian violence could spread quickly among India's more than one billion people. Prime Minister AB Vajpayee is so con-cerned he has cancelled attending the Commonwealth summit in Australia.

The government has appealed for calm following the death of 58 people, including 14 children, when a Muslim mob set fire to a train carrying Hindu nationalists travelling from a disputed religious site.